By: Kate P. & Harrison W.

Coral Reefs: The Canaries in the

Coal Mine?

What Are Coral Reefs?

Coral reefs are fish nurseries.

Over 50% of us depend on coral reefs for food.

40,000 seals are killed every year by plastic.

This seal was killed by plastic.

1998, 110 loggerhead turtles washed ashore.57% of them dead from plastic.

Turtles too.

Fish are being killed by plastic and

pollution too. All marine life is in

danger.

So what is killing our coral reefs?

FROM THIS

TO THIS

WE ARE.

Carbon from our cars is acidifying the ocean and warming the climate.

In 1998, 11% of the world’s coral reefs were killed

and 16% were damaged.

Now, 26% are dead.

The garbage and chemicals we are pouring into the ocean are killing us too.

Blue birds are not doing so great either.

Pollution and global warming are harming them too.

Global warming is bleaching coral and is responsible for most of the damage to the Caribbean reefs.

Damaged Caribbean reef.

Global warming is harming all of us. The coral reefs are just the canaries in the coal mine.

But if we work together, we can solve this problem

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

USE REUSEABLE

WATER BOTTLES.

PLASTIC NEVER

GOES AWAY.

Recycle your plastics. Fish and birds eat it and

die.

Only wear sunscreen if

you are going to be in the sun

ALL DAY.

The chemicals

in sunscreen

kill the coral too.

If your friend’s house is just around the

corner, walk. Car exhaust

contributes to global warming

and coral bleaching.

Thank You

Works Cited "Coral." National Geographic. Web. 5 Apr. 2012.

<http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/coral/>.

"Environment News Service." Environment News Service. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ens-newswire.com>.

Gore, Al. Earth in the Balence. New York: Houghton Miffllin, 1992. Print.

Kurlansky, Mark, and Frank Stockton. World without Fish. New York: Workman Pub., 2011. Print.

"The Ocean." National Geographic. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-marine-

pollution/>. "Pollution." NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program:. Web. 5 Apr.

2012. <http://coralreef.noaa.gov/threats/pollution/>. Pubmed. "National Center for Biotechnology Information." National

Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 4 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov>.

Talen, Maria. Ocean Pollution. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1991. Print.